Microsoft Ditches Max CPC Limits for New Campaigns

Microsoft Advertising is making significant changes to its platform by removing the ability to set maximum cost-per-click (Max CPC) limits for many new advertising campaigns. The change, which takes effect on October 1, 2026, aims to shift campaign management towards automated bidding and AI-driven optimization.

Under the current system, advertisers could set a Max CPC limit to control how much they were willing to pay per click. However, Microsoft argues that this can interfere with automated bidding, causing campaigns to miss their broader performance objectives even when the advertiser's CPC ceiling is higher than the campaign's typical click cost.

Instead, Microsoft wants advertisers to control automated campaigns through budgets, target cost-per-acquisition (CPA), target return-on-ad-spend (ROAS), conversion values, and other performance signals. This change follows a broader industry trend where platforms increasingly ask advertisers to provide objectives, budgets, and conversion data while algorithms determine bids, placements, and targeting.

The removal of Max CPC is particularly noteworthy as it means advertisers will be surrendering another direct spending control. However, there is an important grandfather provision - existing campaigns already using Max CPC as of October 1 can retain the setting, but if Max CPC is subsequently removed from one of those campaigns, the advertiser will not be able to add it back.